Voter apathy has swept many nations globally. This, as you may recognize correctly is a threat to democracy due to some less obvious tendencies discovered by political scientists. For example, when voter turnout is low it is common for the lower sections of the society to vote the least, creating distinct socio-demographic inequalities. Other concerns might be, decreased legitimacy of government due to poor representation, and simply decay of the whole democratic system. To save their democracies some have instituted compulsory voting. This might be rarely advertised fact, but many countries out there do enact compulsory voting, and some even enforce it strictly. Australia is often the preferred case study for compulsory voting as it one of the highest voter turnout counties in the world. How do they enforce it? They do it with a fine for not showing up on a vote day, unlike some countries that retract candidacy rights after a certain amount of missed votes (Belgium). I should clarify that voting for a candidate, specific or general, is not in any way compulsory. Merely showing up on a vote day at a poll is obligatory, one is free to vote how s/he wants, and it is also perfectly acceptable to spoil the ballot. Compulsory voting could help Canada and other countries such as U.S. greatly with their voter turnout problem as it has for other nations big and small around the world.
don't you agree?
2 comments:
Compulsory voting does not seem like a good idea. Not only would it be an infringement on our rights, but forcing people to vote is not going to make the system better. Unless a law is made along with it to force voters into studying each candidate's platform in order to make an informed decision, forced votes would only help in clouding the polls with semi-arbitrary votes. Religious rights would also be called into question considering religious groups such as Jehovah's Witnesses believe in staying neutral when it comes to politics.
I Can see your point effess. However compulsory voting is a bit of a missnomer. Maybe compulsory voting should be called compulsory voting attendance,as one is not force to vote for a party or another but simply to show up at the election polls. Once there voters are free to spoil their ballot thus staying neutral. So you see no one is forcing you to vote for someone, it is just a way to get people to the polls, and once they have been there a couple of times maybe they will imform themselves next time before makeing the useless trip.
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